Keith Ward

Philospher of Religion and Author

Biography

Keith Ward is a British philosopher, theologian, pastor and scholar. He is a Fellow of the British Academy and (since 1972) an ordained priest of the Church of England. He was a canon of Christ Church, Oxford until 2003. Comparative theology and the relationship between science and religion are two of his main topics of interest.

Ward earned a BA from the University of Wales, an MA from the University of Cambridge, an MA from the University of Oxford, a BLitt from Linacre College at the University of Oxford. He also holds MA and DD degrees from both Cambridge and Oxford, and an honorary DD from the University of Glasgow. Ward has been a Lecturer in Logic at the University of Glasgow and a Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of St Andrews. In 1972, he was ordained priest in the Church of England. From 1971-75 he was Lecturer in Philosophy of Religion at the University of London. From 1975-83, he was Dean of Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He was appointed F. D. Maurice Professor of Moral and Social Theology at the University of London in 1982, Professor of History and Philosophy of Religion at King's College London in 1985, and Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford in 1991, a post from which he retired in 2004. In 1992, he was a visiting professor at the Claremont Graduate University in California. In 1993-94, he delivered the prestigious Gifford Lectures at the University of Glasgow. Ward was the Gresham Professor of Divinity between 2004 and 2008 at Gresham College, London.

He was on the Council of the Royal Institute of Philosophy and was a member of the Editorial Boards of Religious Studies, Journal of Contemporary Religion, Studies in Inter-Religious Dialogue and World Faiths Encounter. He was a member of the Board of Governors of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies. He has also been a visiting professor at Drake University, Iowa, and at the University of Tulsa, Oklahoma.